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Top 10 Evil Doppelgangers

It’s common in video games and especially Nintendo games for the protagonist to fight against an evil version of him or herself. I like to call this individual the evil doppelganger. Sometimes this evil copy of the protagonist is a clone, a robot, a figment of his mind, or sometimes it’s something even more sinister. Nevertheless, it represents the protagonist’s evil side, a side that must be defeated in order to save the world.

So today I decided to count down my top 10 favorite evil doppelgangers in games. Most of the characters on this list are from retro games, and only one character per franchise.

10.) Axel Gear

Did I ever mention how much I love Rocket Knight Adventures?

Rocket Knight Adventure is a game series about an opossum knight with a jetpack and a sword. This opossum is named Sparkster and he needs to save the kingdom from evil pigs and mechs. Yes, I know it sounds incredibly stupid, but this is one of my favorite 16-bit games ever made.

Sparkster’s enemy and rival is another oppossum with knight armor and a jetpack. This opossum is named Axel Gear. He and Sparkster were trained by the same master, but Axel was jealous. He believed the master favored Sparkster so he killed him, revived the Black Knights, and attempted to kill Sparkster numerous times.

Sparkster always wins, but Axel Gear never stays down for long.

9.) Copy Robot

The reason I didn’t include Bass and Treble in this list is because Mega Man 7 and 8 don’t exist. I never heard of those games, and neither did you. Also I didn’t include Proto Man because he’s not really evil, and I don’t consider him to be a doppelganger of Mega Man. However, I did pick Copy Robot from Mega Man 1 to make an appearance on this list because he is the bane of my childhood.

Copy Robot is that clone of Mega Man that is created in Wily’s castle during Mega Man 1. You enter a brightly colored room that hurts your eyes when suddenly a machine drops down onto Mega Man and creates an exact duplicate. This Copy Robot has all of Mega Man’s powers and all the powers of the robot masters that Mega Man defeated. He is a pain in the ass to fight, even with the pause trick and that’s why he’s in the number 9 spot.

8.) Dark Rayman

It’s always terrifying when you’re up against a seemingly unstoppable force, and that’s exactly what Dark Rayman is.

In the original Rayman on the second level of Candy Chateau, Mr. Dark will appear and create an evil doppelganger of Rayman called Dark Rayman. This evil doppelganger cannot be attacked or slowed down. Instead all you can do is run. Unfortunately, Dark Rayman copies all of Rayman’s moves just a second behind. If you jump, he jumps… if you run, he runs… if you slow down for a second or slip, he will kill you. The only way to stop Dark Rayman is to get to the end of the stage.

7.) Wario

I really don’t like this character, but he does star in some pretty amazing games.

Wario made his debut in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. In this game Mario’s castle is taken over by Wario. Wait… Since when did Mario have his own castle? Do they just give them away to anyone in the mushroom kingdom? Nevertheless, Wario has taken over Mario’s castle so Mario must collect 6 golden coins to gain entrance into his castle and defeat Wario.

Since then Wario has become increasingly popular. He starred in several of his own platforming games, appeared in nearly all Mario spinoffs, and created the popular and seizure inducing WarioWare series.

As the evil version to the most popular video game character of all time, Wario is an unforgettable doppelganger.

6.) Uka Uka

Crash Bandicoot 1 and 2 are a bit unfair. In those games Crash has a mystical voodoo maske named Aku Aku helping him along the way. It’s not until Crash Bandicoot 3 where things are evened out. In this game Dr. Neo Cortex frees Aku Aku’s evil twin brother, Uka Uka and together they plot to take over the world.

Dr. Neo Cortex is the main villain for the Crash Bandicoot series, but he always seemed a bit pathetic. He is a sniveling coward who hides behind tricks and machinery. However, Uka Uka is just pure evil. He has the same mystical powers of his brother and the cunning of a true evil villain.

I fear that if Uka Uka had some competant evil help, he would succeed in taking over the world.

5.) Mileena

Mileena is evil. She may be the clone of Mortal Kombat hottie, Kitana, but don’t let that fool you. Underneeth that veil is a set of razor sharp teeth and a canibalistic appetite.

Mileena made her debut in Mortal Kombat 2. She is a clone of Kitana infused with evil magic, but the games often refer to the two of them as sisters. Their appearance may be similar, but their personalities are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Mileena is a sai wielding assassin. She works for Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung and numerous other villains in their attempt to take over the world. As a clone, she desires to defeat Kitana and prove that she is superior. This makes her brash but extrmely aggressive and unpredictable. Her most terrifying attribute is that Mileena is a cannibal. Her teeth aren’t just intimidating, they’re deadly. She can bite your jugular or just swallow you whole and spit out your bones.

4.) Liquid Snake

For this entry, I’m only going to focus on Metal Gear Solid 1 because it’s retro and because if I went into depth on the Metal Gear Solid games we’d be here for hours… also SPOILERS!

Let’s try to get through this quickly before Andrew yells at me for creating giant paragraphs. Big Boss was a legendary soldier who thrived around the time of the cold war. The Les Enfants Terribles project created three clones from Big Boss’ DNA. These clones are Solidus Snake (who we will not talk about today), Solid Snake (the protagonist of Metal Gear Solid), and Liquid Snake (the antagonist and evil doppelganger in Metal Gear Solid). Liquid believed he was cloned with Big Boss’ recessive genes and therefore he hated Solid Snake who was believed to be cloned with Big Boss’ “superior” genes. Liquid vowed to prove he was the best clone.

In Metal Gear Solid 1, Liquid Snake leads a nuclear insurection against the United States government and tricks Solid Snake into activating Metal Gear Rex’s nuclear capabilities. Then a bunch of other things happen that would require way too much typing. However, all you need to know is that Liquid is an evil doppelganger who wanted to launch nukes.

3.) Metal Sonic

Doctor Robotnik really confuses me sometimes. He created numerous badniks that are powered by infant animals, yet has the capability to create something as awesome as Metal Sonic.

Metal Sonic is faster and stronger than the original sonic. His only flaw is that he generally obeys the orders of Doctor Robotnik. Metal Sonic made his debut in Sonic CD where he was tasked with travelling back in time to change the past so Robotnik can rule the future.

When Metal Sonic and Sonic meet for the first time, Metal Sonic kidnaps Amy Rose (which really isn’t that evil because she was annoying anyway) and arrogantly challenges Sonic to a race. What follows is one of the toughest sections of any Sonic game, but also one of the most memorable. There’s a reason you fight Metal Sonic a similar way in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Ep 2 and Sonic Generations.

2.) Dark Link

As much as I dislike the 3D Legend of Zelda games, I have to say I really enjoyed the mini-boss fight against Shadow Link (or Dark Link) outside of the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time. However, in this list I’m talking about Dark Link from Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link.

The entirity of Zelda 2 is about trying to stop Ganon’s evil minions from resurrecting him. Since Ganon is dead, who is the final boss of this game? None other than Dark Link. Zelda 2 focuses heavily on combat. You have to master high blocking, low blocking, and various attacks to even stand a chance in this game. Once it comes to the final battle, Dark Link knows all your strategies and moves. Defeating him is nearly impossible, especially if you don’t use the corner crouch glitch.

1.) SA-X

There is something scary about fighting something with equal strength to yourself. However, it is absolutely terrifying to fight against something that is as strong as you used to be, especially when you’re in a weakened state. That is the terrifying reality of SA-X in Metroid Fusion.

SA-X is a parasite that mimicks Samus Aran in her Power Suit. Meanwhile, the real Samus was left in a weakened state after being attacked by the X parasite. SA-X has all of Samus’ weapons and abilities like her ice beam and power bombs. In the beginning of the game, Samus has nothing. She has to slowly regain her abilities to even stand a chance against SA-X. If Samus sees SA-X there is nothing to do but run. If it sees her, it will destroy her.

SA-X is truly terrifying because it has all the strength and power of Samus without any conscious or humanity. Samus herself says it best.

“The SA-X. An enemy with my strongest abilities. But does it have reason? Probably not. It’s just a killing machine. In my current state, I can’t face it head-on. The SA-X is me, only heartless. I must stop it before it learns its potential and threatens the universe…”

I hope you all enjoyed the list, and be sure to keep an eye out for the next one. I can already tell it’s going to be one of my favorites. Until then this is Dark Woodyman signing off.

 

Unhappy Gaming.